Best Vietnam food souvenirs

Overview

Vietnam is not only famous for gorgeous landscapes, rich culture, friendly local people but also delicious food. Well-known dishes such as Pho, Bun Cha, Banh mi,.. are dishes that you can only enjoy in Vietnam to get the best experience. How about food that you can bring home? That question will be answered in Best Vietnam food souvenirs, where the best Vietnam tour operator will provide you with the best dish that you can bring home as gifts for your friends.

Why should you bring Best Vietnam food souvenirs home?

Vietnam is a country that is famous for diverse and cheap food, so finding snack souvenirs is really easy in Vietnam. You can buy it at the place that you are visiting, or Hanoi Old Quarter if you are in Hanoi. Moreover, here food souvenirs are downright delicious, which has special flavors and tastes that you can not find elsewhere all over the world. Each snack has its own value and meaning to every area along the S-shaped country. In other words, every snack is the pride of every province, such as Hai Duong people always proud of Mung bean cake, or Banh Pia is the boast of Soc Trang Province. Hence, when you take these specialties home, invite your friends to these delicious gifts and introduce stories behind these. Or respectively you can enjoy them in order to relieve your Vietnam nostalgia.

Best Vietnam food souvenirs 

1. Mung bean cake (Banh Dau xanh)

Undoubtedly, Mung bean cake is the very one of the best Vietnam food souvenirs. Hai Duong's mung bean cake has been a favorite food for almost a century and is associated with King Bao Dai (1913–1997). A cake made of green beans, sugar, and fat, according to the elders, was reportedly given to King Bao Dai on his tour to the East. The cake's flavor was described by the monarch as being light, sweet, and smooth, and that it was ideal for savoring tea. He found it to be quite tasty. Back at the palace, King Bao Dai issued a decree recognizing the Hai Duong mung bean cake and printing the image of the "Golden Dragon"—a symbol of the king's authority—on the box. As a result of this alteration, Hai Duong Green Bean Cake is now referred to as "Hai Duong Golden Dragon Green Bean Cake". Hai Duong still sells it as mung bean cakes to distinguish it from the ones in other regions.

The necessary ingredients are green beans, crystallized sugar, lard, pomelo flower essential oil, and coconut oil. These elements will be mixed in a particular ratio. If lard is going to be used to make cakes, it needs to be fresh and fried on low heat until it is clear and fragrant. The cake will smell burnt if the fat is too old, and it will lose flavor and perfume if the fat is too young. The best frying fat is the sort that is moderately flammable. In short, Mung bean cake, which seems to be easy to make, requires great skill and experience. As a result, this can not be missed in the list of best Vietnam food souvenirs.

You can buy Mung bean cake at:

1. Rong Vang Minh Ngoc Mung Bean Cake:

- Address: 21 Hang Giay, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi Old Quarter

- Price: 20,000 - 1,000,000 VND

2. Nguyen Huong Mung bean cake:

- Address: 42 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Hanoi

- Price: 120,000 - 300,000 VND

3. Bao Minh Mung Bean Cake:

- Address: 12 Hang Than, Nguyen Trung Truc Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi.

- Tel: 0936445616

2. Dried fruits (Hoa qua Say)

Dried fruits are also one of the best Vietnam food souvenirs, which can be found most in Da Lat, Lam Dong province. Everyone knows that Da Lat is the tourist and resort paradise of Lam Dong. And what makes visitors remember this place is not only the scenery and friendliness of Da Lat people but also the excellent snacks -dried fruits. People in Da Lat are known for growing fruit trees, growing temperate flowers and producing wonderful jams from those fresh and nutritious agricultural products, which are made from traditional ingredients and recipes.

With a temperate and cool climate and endowed with fertile and lush plateaus, Da Lat is truly a paradise of rare fruits in a country where the climate is characterized by tropical, monsoon regions like Vietnam. Tourists often like seeing colorful delicious dried fruits, which are contained in clear boxes or packages, ready-made with ingredients on the spot such as potatoes, jackfruit, sweet potatoes, bananas,… Each type is as crispy as a premium snack, with a simple taste that is not too sweet, making it suitable for children and the elderly. Dried jackfruit is the most recommended to try because this kind of fruit is just grown in tropical countries like Vietnam. You should try both fresh and dried jackfruit. While fresh jackfruit is sweet, tender and juicy, dried pieces are crispy and easy for preservation. 

You can buy dried fruits at:

1. Nguyen Vu dried fruits

- Address: CT4 Do Nhuan, Bac Tu Liem District, Hanoi.

- Tel” 0977844909

2. L'angfarm Hanoi dried fruit

- Address: C5, Dai Kim, Hoang Mai District, Hanoi

- Tel: 0936242294

3. Salted dried fruits (O mai)

Salted dried fruits are brand-new to many people, so it is definitely mentioned in the list of the best Vietnam food souvenirs. Also made from fruits but Salted dried fruits or O Mai has a very distinctive flavor, texture and from fruits different from dried fruits. With the sweet and tart tastes of apricots, plums, tamarind, and crocodiles, enjoy a cup of hot tea, some Tet jam, or apricot balls. The Tet tale will become more intriguing as a result. Particularly o mai, which is made from a mix of flavors and ingredients, seems to be becoming more and more of a standard in contemporary Tet cuisine.

Not only is it a tasty gift for nibbling on, but it also appears to have evolved into a Tet holiday staple for Hanoians. Every time they visit Hanoi, a large number of travelers frequent the streets and businesses that sell umbrellas and jam, famously purchasing a few boxes as presents for family and friends. 

Apricots, ginger, plums, star fruit, and tamarind were among the few traditional umbrella varieties that were available in the past. But since tastes and demand have changed recently, a broad range of umbrellas have been produced. Additionally, well-known, uncomplicated fruits like kiwifruit, dracontomelon, tamarind, peach, filling, and red kumquat are the source of some of the most distinctive and flavorful apricots. This is the best Vietnam food souvenir that you may think of when finding a gift to bring home.

You can buy salted dried fruits at:

1. Gia Loi O mai Hanoi 

- Address: no.8 Hang Duong, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi

- Price: 50,000 - 200,000 VND

2. Gia Thinh O Mai Hanoi

- Address: 13 Hang Duong, Hoan Kiem District Hanoi

- Price: 60,000- 160,000 VND

4. Coconut candy (Keo dua)

Coconut candy is one of the best Vietnam food souvenirs. The main ingredients required to manufacture coconut candy are copra and malt sugar. This is a distinctive confection and a traditional craft that captures the national culture. Vietnam has various coconut-growing locations, but Ben Tre is where the coconut candy industry first got started. The rows of tall coconut trees at Ben Tre are well-known for bearing abundant huge fruit clusters. This is the main ingredient of the popular coconut candy. Coconut milk, granulated sugar, and malt are the only components of true coconut candy; some vanilla is added to enhance the aroma. Over time, the Ben Tre people have improved their capacity to create different types of coconut candies that are combined with extra components including durian, peanuts, taro, and pandan leaves. Coconut candy cubes with eye-catching green, attractive fragments and rich sweetness can enchant you whenever your sweet tooth strikes.  Because of these reasons, keo dua is one of the best Vietnam food souvenirs.

You can buy coconut candy at: 

1. Dung Ha Coconut Candy

- Address: Nationwide Delivery

- Price: 30,000 VND 

2. Tuyet Huong Coconut candy

- Address: Nationwide Delivery

- Price: 30,000 VND 

5. Pia Cake (Banh pia)

There is no doubt that Banh Pia is the best Vietnam food souvenirs. Pia cake is one of Soc Trang's standout offerings. Grab some cookies and a cup of ginger tea. Selling a few stories warms the hearts of tourists. Furthermore, it would be a shame for anyone visiting to miss the opportunity to try these modest but dependable cakes. Those who have had pia cake say it is a delicious snack that shouldn't be disregarded when taking it back to family. Even though it only contains flour, taro, green beans, durian, and salted duck egg yolk, Soc Trang pia cake stands out from other cakes due to its distinctive flavor and look.

A "gut dish" for individuals used to eating sweets is soc trang pia cake. Thanks to the sweet and fatty stuffing of green beans, durian, coconut milk, and salted egg. Pia cake is a delicious dish. Pair it with a cup of hot tea to cover the taste and keep you from getting bored while you're eating. One could claim that there are numerous laborious processes that must be carried out in order to manufacture typical pia cakes, from making the dough to baking it. Nothing is more exquisite than soc trang pia cake and hot tea. When you bite into a piece of cake and drink some tea, the sweetness of the cake will combine with the tea's bitterness, melting it on the tip of your tongue. This complex gourmet treat has been blended into Soc Trang culture. Banh Pia, is undoubtedly the best Vietnam food souvenirs.

You can buy Banh Pia at:

1. Tan Hue Vien durian Banh Pia

- Address: 43 Kim Ma, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi

- Tel: 0904 668 808

2. Hai Son Banh Pia

- Address: 63C Ton Duc Thang, Dong Da District, Hanoi

- Tel: 0969 393 373

6. Cured fermented pork (Nem chua)

The dish known as spring rolls will be recognizable to anyone who has visited Thanh even once. A well-known dish called nem chua Thanh Hoa represents the ethnic pride and cultural ideals of the Thanh Hoa people. Delicious and affordable When guests arrive at festivals, Thanh Hoa spring rolls are usually served as appetizers, drinks, lunches, and occasionally with rice. The fact that we can savor its seductive flavor wherever we are is more useful.

When you eat spring rolls, you'll taste the somewhat caustic sweetness of the clove leaves, fig leaves, or guava leaves, the sour flavor of the meat, the crunchiness of the skin fibers, the spice of the chili, the perfume of the garlic, and other flavors that are extremely different from spring rolls. Sour is prevalent, much like the spring rolls from Thanh Hoa. Nem Thanh has a strange flavor that is very different from that of Tai rolls or fried spring rolls, as well as from those from Hanoi or Hue. It is so sour, spicy, and has a salty taste from the spices and a sweet taste from the meat that once you try it, you can't help but eat a few more. This interesting snack is also worth being considered as one of the best Vietnam food souvenirs.

You can buy cured fermented pork

1. Vifoodshop Nem chua

- Address: Vuong Thua Vu, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi

- Tel: 0342387630

2. Dacsanthanhnam Nem chua

- Address: CT1B, Yen Nghia, Ha Dong District, Hanoi

- Tel: 0962 918 241

Conclusion

Besides Pho, Banh mi, which are too familiar and famous when it comes to Vietnamese food, why don’t you try those specialties that Vietnam Escape Tours suggested. Above are the top 6 best Vietnam food souvenirs that you should consider whenever you want to bring something good to eat to your country. Thanks a lot for reading!